Married to the Billionaire Who Betrayed Me novel Chapter 61

Chapter 61 Congratulations On Your Fake Engagement

The echo of Celeste’s insult settled over the marble floor. The surrounding executives stopped breathing. They waited for a reaction They expected a shouting match. They wanted an undignified brawl between the current fiancée and the disgraced former lover.

I looked at the silver silk gown. I looked at the heavy diamonds resting against her collarbone. Celeste wore millions of dollars on her skin, yet she reeked of insecurity.

“The service entrance is reserved for catering, Celeste,” I stated. My voice remained level. I did not raise my pitch/Keynote speakers

utilize the main doors. I assume you missed my presentation. You were busy finding your seat in the audience.”

A low murmur rippled through the crowd.

Celeste’s eyes narrowed. The smug smile on her face turned brittle. She opened her mouth to fire another insult.

A shadow fell over the space between us.

Tristan emerged from the crowd. He bypassed a group of investors and stopped at Celeste’s side.

The air in my lungs turned to ground glass. Seeing them stand together required every ounce of my endurance. He wore the bespoke

dark suit. She wore the silver silk.

The moment Tristan stopped moving, Celeste launched her offensive.

She did not address him. She did not look at his face. She reached out and wrapped her hands around his right arm. She pressed her

body against his side. She laced her fingers over his forearm, positioning the massive diamond engagement ring to catch the light of

the crystal chandeliers. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

It was a territorial display. She staked her claim in front of the entire summit.

I watched Tristan’s reaction.

He went rigid. The muscles in his jaw tightened into hard knots. He did not lean into her touch. He did not place a comforting hand

over hers. He stood like a man trapped in a vice. His steel-gray eyes remained locked on my face. He looked sick.

The pain hit me then.

It bypassed the armor I spent a year building. It bypassed the corporate titles and the Aegis revenue margins. It struck the raw, bruised tissue of my heart. I remembered the warmth of his hands in the dark. I remembered the quiet courthouse where we signed our names on a marriage certificate. He belonged to me in the shadows. Now, he belonged to her in the light.

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. I pictured Elias. My son possessed his jawline, but my son possessed my strength. Elias was safe in Port Sterling. Tristan chose this prison. I chose freedom.

“Tristan, darling, Celeste purred. She stroked the fabric of his sleeve. I was just telling Minerva how surprised we are to see her

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Chapter 61 Congratulations On Your Fake Engagement

here. The summit organizers possess terrible vetting protocols these days. They let anyone rent a booth.”

“Aegis does not rent booths, I corrected. I shifted my gaze from Tristan to Celeste. ‘We dominate market shares. The organizers invited me to speak. You are attending as a plus-one.”

Celeste flushed a deep, mottled red. Her grip on Tristan’s arm tightened.

“You sell cheap makeup out of a warehouse, Celeste spat. The high-society facade cracked, revealing the vicious, spoiled heiress beneath. “My family funds this entire convention center. We fund the Johnston Group expansion. You are a footnote in a tabloid

magazine. You think a sharp suit makes you an executive? You are still the same pathetic girl who cried on the floor of my

engagement party.”

The crowd stepped closer. The tension in the grand atrium reached a boiling point.

Tristan shifted his weight. He tried to pull his arm free from Celeste’s grip. “Celeste. Stop.”

“No, Tristan, Celeste snapped. She clung to him. She refused to release her hold. “She needs to understand her place. She parades

around this room trying to steal our investors. She uses your name to generate buzz for her little startup.”

‘I never used his name,” I said. “I scrubbed his name from my life the day I left.”

I looked at their tangled arms. I looked at the diamond ring. I saw the reality of their existence.

They were miserable. Celeste spent her days tracking my movements, terrified of a woman three hundred miles away. Tristan spent

his nights hunting a ghost, trapped in a merger he orchestrated to satisfy a board of directors. They possessed billions in liquid

capital, and they were drowning in their own choices.

A strange, hollow calm washed over me. The pain vanished. Pity replaced the heartbreak.

I offered Celeste a smile.

It was a genuine, relaxed expression. It confused her. She expected me to break. She expected me to run.

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